


Her Name

by rice_bubbles



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuban Lance, F/M, allura still loves lotor, allura's crushing ohoho, allurance is the cutest ship, ao3 step up your allurance game, hmmm, it's true lads, listen, okay that's enough, pining lance, pining lance mcclain, slow allurance i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 17:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15369363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rice_bubbles/pseuds/rice_bubbles
Summary: Allura seeks comfort from the Blue Lion.She finds comfort from the Blue Paladin.





	Her Name

**Author's Note:**

> For clarification, I still refer to Lance as the Blue paladin! Also oh my god somebody please talk to me about the Season Seven trailer

Allura sighed through her nostrils and ran a hand through her thick hair. The day had been a shit show, to say the least. Hunk had messed up with the food goo machine that Pidge had somehow installed into his lion yet again, and he got it all over the Blue Lion- god knows how. Lance tried to explain sheepishly, saying something about a 'slip-n-slide' and recyclable material. They were yet to clean up.

Bringing up the thought of Lance made the Princess' insides go all funny, as if she had drunk too much of Kaltenecker's milk. She wasn't sure whether the feeling was from confusion or mistrust, or even from love. The paladin made her feel strange, in a way that Altean and English words couldn't start to describe.

Allura scoffed indignantly, hunching over on her makeshift bed and tugging on her ears, a habit she'd picked up from Lance. Love. What did it mean? She thought she loved Lotor. She did. She still does, no matter how much denial she wishes herself into. It was a corner she didn't want to delve into- at least not on this particular night.

The whole assembly were preparing to go to Earth, but it was a large task that none of them were truly ready for, physically and mentally. They were all so tired- tired from fighting, tired from crying, tired from god damn waiting around. Allura was possibly the most exhausted of them all, but she couldn't confirm it. 

The paladins and the rest of the crew busied themselves with meaningless tasks- Pidge simply tinkering, Hunk trying his hardest to cook with the minimal supplies he could shove into his lion, Keith taking care of his wolf alien thing and filling in his mother on everything, Matt spending his time practically ogling over both Pidge's work and Allura in general, Coran meticulously cleaning every single of Pop-Pop Wimbleton's tools, Romelle tailing Allura and asking her questions she didn't have the answer to, Lance milking Kaltenecker and communicating with the mice in his own sort of way.

Allura yawned widely, forcing herself to stand and observe where she was and what she had to do. She caught her reflection in the mirror of the strange shelter next to her- the one that Matt had set up to keep all the 'extras' safe and warm while the paladins slept in their lions- and nearly startled herself. She looked worse than she felt.

The princess had opted to stay inside the shelter with the others- the sheer energy inside Blue was too much for her. She mumbled to herself and picked a couple items from the pile of neatly folded clothes near her mattress, being sure to include underwear. It was late- in Earth time, it would've been around 2 AM. 

Allura snuck over to the back compartment of the shelter where the small bath was, warm and inviting. She quickly undressed, her bright eyes darting around suspiciously, not resting until she was in the pod-like bath, where the cloudy water covered her breasts. She bathed, trying to be quiet, cleaning herself of all of the accumulated grease and sweat and such on her skin and hair. The alien hadn't any time to bathe in the past week, and there was nothing graceful or powerful about the cricks in her back and the aching of her muscles.

Allura finished bathing quickly, much too paranoid about being caught. She stood and dried herself, deciding that she'd drain the bath in the morning- that was usually the noisiest part of bathing. She mumbled to herself as she dressed in shorts and an old shirt of Keith's. He'd grown taller during the two years he had experienced on the back of the space creature with his mother, and since Allura had been too scatterbrained and stressed to pack many clothes into the blue lion on her frantic escape from the castle of lions, he had given her his old clothes. They were washed, and in nice condition, though they hung quite loosely off of Allura's strong frame.

The princess yawned widely, though she didn't feel tired in the slightest. Her mind was buzzing, filled with concerns and regrets and questions. She needed something to do. Something that she could make a mental to-do list for, to help her mind stop buzzing and be quiet, even if for a moment. She snapped her fingers when a perfect idea popped into her head what- she would clean her lion! 

Allura smiled contentedly, gathering her dirty clothes and depositing them in the strange cloudy water of the pod-like bath tub- it would clean them too, right? At that point, she couldn't have cared less. She skipped down the hill that the shelter had been set up on top of, searching for where the paladins had parked their lions. Knowing Blue, she would most likely find the lion as close to a body of water as possible.

And sure enough, there was the Blue Lion, sitting just around the back of the hill, near a small river. The lion's eyes lit up when Allura neared her, illuminating a figure perched atop the vehicle's nose. Allura stopped in her tracks, tilting her head. She was so sure that nobody else was awake- the person who was must have had trouble sleeping. The princess padded towards the figure, who had turned slightly to see her approaching. 

Her eyes softened immediately after catching sight of the dusting of freckles on the figure's nose and cheeks, of his blue eyes and long legs. It was Lance.

"P-Princess!"

He sounded flustered, almost embarrassed. It was a little unusual in comparison to how he usually presented himself, but Allura knew that he was working on an image, restricting his emotions when he was around others. She laughed softly at his tone, clambering up the lion's structure in an extremely ungraceful manner. She sat next to Lance, who was zipping and unzipping his hoodie, looking down at his lap. The princess smiled to herself, placing her hand over his to halt his nervous actions. 

"Lance." 

She said his name half in a way of greeting, half to get his attention. Her accent was slightly more pronounced- she was too tired to make her voice professional or regal.

"You're up quite late. May I ask why?"

Lance took his time to reply, looking over at Allura to study her features. His eyes followed the curve of her face, the arch of her eyebrows, the faint glow of her Altean markings. Allura let him do so- she knew that the paladin was very observant, that he liked to notice little changes in appearance and mannerisms. He leaned back, seemingly comfortable with her presence. 

"I felt that Blue was restless, so I came to comfort her. She wanted the water."

He tapped his fingers on Blue's snout lovingly, and Allura felt her purr in response. The lion's affection wrapped around them both like a blanket, and Allura couldn't help but sigh in content. She knew that she had work to do, but all she wanted to do was be with Blue. The princess hesitantly slipped off of the vehicle's snout and shimmied down the surface, touching to the ground and feeling warmth leech out of her.

"I came here to clean up after you, Hunk and Pidge got food goo all over poor Blue."

Lance simply chuckled at that, jumping off Blue with much more composure than the princess could muster. 

"I feel obliged to help you, Princess. By the way-"

The paladin leant up against the lion, his eyes slightly narrow. He was chewing on his lip, a faint blush on his cheeks. Allura cocked an eyebrow, keeping her gaze on him as she picked up the bucket and cloth that she'd brought along with her.

"-Are those Keith's clothes?"

He blurted the words out, turning a shade of red similar to that of Allura's shirt. The princess looked down at what she was wearing, confirming that it was appropriate to clean or sleep in. Why was he so flustered? A small giggle came from her lips, one so girly and unlike her that it took her aback. 

"They are. You see, Keith has matured by around two years while he was on the back of the creature with his mother, travelling through the... space-time rift thing. You know. I left my clothes on the Castle of Lion in my hurry, so I borrowed Keith's clothes for the short time I'll be out of my paladin armour."

Lance nodded, taking the extra cloth that Allura had thrown over her shoulder and nodding in response. Truthfully, he knew that she was in Keith's clothes, yet some part deep down in him had felt a spike of jealousy towards the galran as the princess had confirmed the fact. He shook his head, beginning to wipe the still damp parts of food goo off of Blue's front right leg, humming to try and distract himself from the fact that Allura was right next to him, cleaning Blue's side.

Lance's mind wandered, images of Allura blooming in his head. Of course he was imagining her in his clothes- how she would look in his paladin armour, in his hoodie, in his pajamas. The only thing that snapped him out of his daze was the princess' voice, paired with a soft snort that made Lance's stomach flutter.

"Lance! You were falling asleep and you slid down Blue's arm, and then-"

She broke off into a fit of laughter, trying her best to maintain good posture but giving up and keeling over. Lance's cheeks coloured faster than Blue could ever swim, and his back went as straight as a board. 

"You got g-goo all over you!"

The princess was wiping tears from her bright eyes as Lance cursed, wiping the slop off of his shirt and grimacing. Without thinking, he tugged the damp shirt over his head, jumping around animatedly in an attempt to rid his body of the strange-smelling goop. This only made Allura laugh even more, bringing back the tears that she had wiped away seconds before. Blue seemed to vibrate with her own laughter- her eyes glowed brighter, illuminating the hillside with a strange colour, and she stood up, careful of the Princess next to her.

Allura recovered slowly, still feeling light and giddy from laughing so much. (Not to mention from the sight of Lance shirtless.) Her stomach ached and her eyes watered, but the sight of Lance walking towards her with mussed hair made warmth flood to her body. The Princess shifted slightly to get a better view of Lance, her eyes meeting his as he grinned, striking a pose that made Allura want to kiss him and punch him at the same time.

"Well, Princess, they don't call me 'Slick Mcclain' for nothin'."

The Altean simply snorted in response, standing up to rest next to him. She jumped a little as she heard a massive splash, turning quickly to find the Blue Lion splashing around happily in the small river only a few hundred metres next to them. Lance winced as cold water hit in in the bare chest, hopping a little and shouting a quick 'Hey!!' at Blue before charging into the river with no regards to the size of the river or the fact that he still had shorts on.

Allura couldn't help but follow him, a squeal of shock bursting from her lips as Lance caught her ankles and completely dunked her under the icy water. She came up coughing and retching, gasping for air. Lance immediately came to her side, kneeling in the water to speak to her softly, asking if she was okay.

The princess stopped coughing and shoved the Cuban male into the water, giving him no time to react as she darted away. Playing the 'damsel in distress' card didn't hurt once in a while. She laughed brightly as Lance resurfaced, panting harshly and yelling some sort of threat. She gasped deeply for air as she felt hands close around her ankles, and her whole body was tugged backwards, down into the shock of cold. 

The pair kept up their childish game until they were both pink in the face and panting, Lance drifting over to Allura and holding up his hands in surrender. He glanced at her and quickly looked away- he was afraid that he'd look at her for too long. Allura raised her eyebrows, floating in front of the boy with crossed legs, somehow keeping still in the now-calm water.

"Lance. May I ask you a question?"

Lance tentatively met her gaze, nodding. Allura was hit with how attractive he really was, now that she was so close to him- his eyes were the sort of blue that you'd use to paint a sky, his hundreds of freckles so perfect in her eyes. She hoped that her fairly obvious blush could be written off as flushed cheeks due to all the swimming she'd been doing.

"O-Of course, Princess. Whatever you need."

His voice was soft, almost a whisper, his breathing steady and calm. Allura liked him like this- he didn't have a mask on. He was tired, yet so caring and polite.

"Why do you always call me Princess? You know you can call me Allura like the others. It sounds too formal."

Lance bit his bottom lip, hesitant to answer her question. He never felt like he fit with Allura, with a person like her. She was so spectacular, in comparison to his stunning ordinariness. He couldn't grow close with somebody so far above him. He never felt worthy of her company. Sure, when he forgot who he was and just had fun, he was so comfortable with calling her by her first name, but he couldn't ever let himself have fun all the time. He was supposed to be the funny one, the goofy one. The stupid one. But he didn't want that image. He wanted-

"Lance."

Her voice cut through his thoughts, forcing him to snap out of the mood he was falling into. Lance found himself blushing, almost out of shame. He sighed shakily and looked Allura in the eyes.

"God, to be honest? I don't feel... worthy enough to call you Allura. I mean, I know we're friends and all, but you're a Princess, so it only seems right to acknowledge your position. I've called you Allura before, but that's only when I'm all stressed or scared or something. I call you Allura sometimes when I flirt with you, so sometimes it just feels dirty to say your first name, y'know?"

He babbled, his cheeks darkening, his eyes slowly drifting away from Allura's gaze. His hands floated up to tug on his ears self-consciously, and he was close to downright tugging them off when he heard a soft laugh from the princess opposite him.

"Oh, Lance. You're my dearest friend. I don't call you Paladin, even though it's an extremely important position that you should be proud of."

Lance simply shrugged, much too humiliated to warrant any other type of response. Allura furrowed her brow, standing up suddenly, disrupting the calm water to startle the boy. She took his hand and tugged him to a stand, making herself slightly taller than him for dramatic effect. She put a hand on her hip and the other on Lance's chin, tilting his head up so he had no choice but to look at her.

"As the great and almighty Allura, Princess of Altea, I hereby order Lance Charles McClain to call me by one name, and one name only- Allura!"

She had put on her loudest, most dramatic announcer type voice that rung out into the vast hilly area, possibly waking some of the other paladins. Lance finally let himself answer, looking at Allura with a smirk tugging at his lips.

"Very well, mighty Allura of Altea. Your demand has been received." 

His voice was one that could combat hers, clear and loud with the perfect tone of royalty. Allura grinned widely, her eyes crinkling as she laughed softly. She fell forward, hugging him tightly, burying herself in the warmth that he shared with the Blue Lion. Lance's cheeks flamed, though he hugged back, muttering in her ear. 

"Hey Allura, could you please, uh, make yourself a little shorter there? It's kinda awkward trying to hug you."

After a little bit of shuffling around, Allura managed to shrink herself into a comfortable height. She was usually the same height as Lance, but she made herself shorter for the sake of the hug, nestling into his chest. She ignored how brightly her Altean marks were glowing, how she had only hugged Lance like this once before, when all of his warmth had escaped him, and smiled.

They only broke apart as Blue came galloping down the river to meet them, tail wagging like an excited puppy. Lance couldn't help but notice that the lion's swimming had washed all of the food goo off of her surface, and that she could have done it in the first place after the whole goo incident to save his and Allura's time, but he had a feeling that Blue intended for them to be together. The lion was gone in a flash, soaring up the hill to meet the others, leaving Lance and Allura to walk up the hill of their own accord.

Lance stepped out of the river, groaning softly and rubbing his eyes, grumbling to himself as Allura did the same.

"Mhrm... I don't wanna walk up that hill."

He sounded fairly resolute, not even moving a muscle as the alien behind him scooped him into her arms with ease, carrying him bridal-style. He was greeted with possibly the most beautiful sight he had ever seen- Allura, her pink marks glowing softly, her hair curled and damp, her eyes sparkling. He was breathless for a solid half-minute, in which the princess powered up the hill, panting softly and letting out the occasional squeak as her feet slipped on the grass below them. 

"Allura."

Lance said her name softly, trying out how it felt on his lips and deciding that he never wanted to say any other name ever again. Allura looked at him, smiling a little and humming in response. 

"Mhm?"

Lance tried to figure out how to tell her how he liked simply saying her name. He gave up, settling for saying it again, just to see how she looked when she was annoyed. 

"Allllllllluuuuuuura."

Allura slowed her pace, squinting down at the male in her arms and rolling her blue eyes.

"Yes, Lance?"

Lance decided that the princess looked adorable when she was annoyed.

"How do you know my middle name?"

Allura smiled slyly, thoroughly enjoying the chance to tease him back. 

"Hmm... Well, let's just say a friend helped me out, okay?"

Her grin only grew as Lance flailed in her arms quite helplessly, wanting an answer. Truthfully, none of the Paladins had told her, she had just snooped in Lance's 'Ocean Secrets' diary that he had left in the Blue Lion, where he'd written his full name and speculated changing his middle name to something cooler. Humans really were interesting.

It wasn't long before they reached Blue, who was resting and waiting for them. She opened her mouth to let the pair into the cockpit, and Allura set Lance down in the plush seat that she used to sleep in on long journeys. Lance mumbled something in protest about intruding on her lion, but she was having none of it. The princess settled into the regular seat used for simple missions, tilting it backwards so that she was lying down on her side, looking over at Lance.

"Goodnight, Charles."

She teased him, watching as his grin curled upwards to match her own. Lance mumbled a reply, burying his face in the blanket that Allura had thrown over him. And while Allura was exhausted, she knew that the four words that came from his lips would keep her up for what was left of the morning.

"G'night 'Lura. Love you."

**Author's Note:**

> Slick McClain isn't even a catchy nickname it's just awful Lance, honey, what are you doing


End file.
